A Republican wave may have swept across the country Tuesday night, but the red tide hit a granite breakwater in New Hampshire. Democrats here held three of four seats at the top of the ticket. Strategists are looking closely at what made the difference for Democrats here, and for lessons that can be taken forward.

This election ran against former House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s dictum that “all politics is local”. In this case deep dissatisfaction with President Obama powered the GOP to gains in Congress and the retaking of the Senate majority.

The polls had predicted this race would be tight, and for a time last night, even after media outlets had declared Jeanne Shaheen the winner, Scott Brown briefly held a slim lead. But by nights end, it was Shaheen and her backers savoring a win in a contest party leaders here and in Washington wanted dearly.

If you are seeking nuance or restraint, you wont find it at a get out the vote rally on the Sunday before a tight election.

Here’s State GOP chairman Jennifer Horn last night in Manchester:

"This is our time. We need to crush it. We need to grab it. We need to run with it, push their heads under over and over again until they cannot breathe anymore, until the elections are over Tuesday night."

Spending on the New Hampshire Senate race cracked the $46 million mark this week to become the most expensive election campaign in Granite State history.

And to the surprise of no one, outside groups have far outspent the candidates: party organizations, political action committees, super PACS and other non-candidate groups have poured $28.7 million into the race, one of a handful of closely watched contests that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

"It's something that’s real, that’s serious. Obviously we have Boko Haram in Africa, we have ISIS and Al- Qaeda elements, still, and their number one goal is to disrupt and dismantle the society as we know it. Senator Shaheen has called what we are discussing fear-mongering. I call it a very rational fear."

Brown campaigned alongside former Governor John Sununu in Seabrook, while Shaheen stumped at a Manchester tech company.

Scott Brown’s visit to the Seabrook station nuclear plant was off-limits to reporters, but according to his campaign, Brown wanted to underscore the role nuclear power needs to play in US energy policy and Shaheen’s past criticism of Seabrook.

Former GOP Presidential nominee John McCain was back in New Hampshire today, stumping for the Republican ticket.

In an appearance at the American Legion Hall, the Arizona Senator nodded in agreement as Republican senate candidate Scott Brown asserted that Shaheen should have joined in a letter that called on President Obama to leave a residual force in Iraq. The American people have been failed by the administration’s foreign policy, Brown says.

In their second televised debate, U.S. Senate candidates Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Scott Brown clashed on how to best handle the threat of ISIS.

Brown repeatedly tried to link Shaheen to President Obama, including on the fight against the Islamic State.

“Senator, with respect, the Kurds are hanging on for dear life, they’re in trouble. The Iraqi government is in trouble. ISIS is the size of New England right now, and you and the president have taken ground troops off the table, which is the worst thing you can do.”

The dynamic of this high-profile race has changed little since former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown began plotting a return to Washington, from New Hampshire, the state in which he spent his early childhood.

Last night's NECN/Concord Monitor/UNH debate at the Capital Center for the Arts in Concord was true to form.

There’s a painted blue line surrounding the entrance to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Over that blue line, political campaigning is not allowed, but just a few inches on this side of it – politics are in motion.

Over the last few months, Shipyard unions have endorsed at least five candidates, most of them Democrats.

Environmental issues have never ranked high on the list of issues that drive most voters to the polls. But this year, Tom Steyer – a former hedge fund manager and billionaire – has pledged to spend $50 million dollars in a few key races around the country, hoping to make climate change a central issue. This spending begs a question: can talking about global warming actually win elections?

Steyer’s operation in New Hampshire, NextGen Climate, has 24 full-time staff, and 5 field offices with two more slated to open in the coming weeks.

Here’s a statement about campaign advertising that may surprise you even if you’ve seen the influx of ads on TV and online video sites: “Candidates, parties and groups ran at least 10,300 TV ads in the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race.”

Scott Brown has tried to make the New Hampshire Senate race about national security, illegal immigration and incumbent Jeanne Shaheen’s political fidelity to an unpopular president.

But the Republican candidate has spent a lot of time the past two weeks defending his somewhat ambiguous record on abortion rights. The issue boiled over Tuesday at a hastily organized “media availability” in Derry, where Brown was set to talk foreign policy with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla).

The US Senate campaigns of Jeanne Shaheen and Scott Brown continue to battle over Brown’s record on abortion.

A day after Jeanne Shaheen’s campaign aired an ad highlighting a Scott Brown’s sponsorship of 2005 bill in the Massachusetts legislature that sought to imposed a 24-waiting period for abortion and require women to be provided with images of fetus, the Brown campaign was up with an ad of his own.

Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was in New Hampshire Tuesday to endorse Republican Scott Brown in the race for U.S. Senate.

Speaking with Brown at an event in Derry that focused on foreign policy, Rubio says re-electing Democrat Jeanne Shaheen would be disastrous.

“Your current United State Senator, if she’s reelected, God forbid, the first vote she will take is to re-elect Harry Reid as the majority leader, someone who uses the United States Senate as a platform to run interference for the failed foreign policy of this president.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen and her Republican challenger, Scott Brown, debated for the first time yesterday in North Conway.

But both candidates focused more on spelling out big differences on policy than they did on rehashing the pointed attack lines promoted by their respective campaigns.

The charged sloganeering wasn't entirely absent. In his opening statement, Brown delivered his campaign’s fundamental argument: That Shaheen votes with President Obama and his polices 99 percent of the time.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is making a big push for the women’s vote, which for three decades has tilted toward her party. But this year, GOP challenger Scott Brown is trying to exploit what may be a new vulnerability for Democratic candidates – women’s disenchantment with the way President Obama is handling the threat of the so-called Islamic State.

The race could come down to what’s highest on women’s minds come election day – social and economic issues such as abortion and pay equity, or… national security.

Join Laura Knoy for an in-depth discussion with the candidates about the issues on New Hampshire voters’ minds this election season. Each forum will be broadcast the following day during The Exchange at 9 am on the stations of NHPR.

Jeanne Shaheen kicked off her week of women’s themed events by collecting the endorsement of NARAL-Pro-Choice America PAC, and by telling reporters to take Scott Brown’s claims of having a pro-choice record with a grain of salt.

“He can try and say all he wants to that he has been pro-choice. The fact is that’s not the way he vote when he was in Massachusetts – check his record – and that’s not the way he has voted in Washington.”

On the campaign trail Monday, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown continued to rail against the Affordable Care Act, taking aim specifically at the employer mandate.

During an event at North Country Tractor in Pembroke, Brown highlighted a part of the health law yet to kick in: a requirement that businesses with 50 or more full-time employees offer health insurance benefits.